


Disproving a Statement

by helsinkibaby



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Het, Non-Canon Relationship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 20:59:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3869596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Huntress attacks Felicity, Diggle takes her home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Disproving a Statement

**Author's Note:**

> Canon divergent for season one; spoilers for "The Huntress Returns"  
> For the one million words weekend challenge, theme seven deadly sins quotes. Prompt: "What is right is often forgotten by what is convenient." - Bodie Thoene

When Oliver heads out of Felicity's office like a bat out of hell, ready to catch and stop Helena come hell or high water, John steps back and lets him go. Nor does he even think of following him. Oliver can deal with his psycho ex-girlfriend all by himself.

John has his own current girlfriend to deal with. 

"Are you ok?" He doesn't wait for an answer before he takes Felicity in his arms and anyway, the answer turns out to be the non-verbal kind, comes in the way she wraps her arms around him and buries her head in his chest, in the way he can feel her shaking. He runs a hand over her hair, kisses the top of her head. "Come on," he says. "Let's get you home."

She looks up at him then, eyes wide. "But Oliver-"

John doesn't let her finish. "Can take whatever Helena will throw at him and return it tenfold." He slides his hands down her back, notices the bruise on her temple and just about manages to keep back an expression somewhere between a wince and anger. "I'm more worried about you."

She bites her lip like she wants to argue, then gives up the fight and sags against him. "OK."

He takes them back to his place, hangs up both their jackets and by the time he's grabbed two beers from the fridge, she's sitting on his couch, shoes kicked off, legs curled underneath her. "Thanks," she says as she accepts the drink and he sits down beside her, close enough that his leg touches her knees. "Should I be drinking this after a bump to the noggin?" she wonders and he chuckles. 

"If I thought you were concussed, I'd be making up some story in Starling City General," he assures her and she lifts an eyebrow. 

"I've see how you and Oliver lie," she reminds him. "That would not be a good idea." 

He raises his bottle in a silent touché, knowing all too well what some people might read into that particular scenario. "I can get you some aspirin if you like."

"I'm good." She meets his eyes, smiles, then her gaze drops to her knees. "I just can't believe this is the first time I've been to your place."

He blinks, realises that most of their relationship has thus far been conducted in the foundry watching the monitors or training, on dates that consisted of meals snatched in between the same, or, on a couple of very rare and wonderful nights, in her apartment. "You would rather have gone back to your own place."

"No!" Her eyes are wide, ponytail waving as she shakes her head, a move that stops suddenly. "Oh man, remind me not to do that again." She shuts her eyes, presses her lips together. "No," she says again. "I like your place. I feel safe here." She looks down. "I feel safe with you." Her cheeks flush scarlet and she bites her lip. 

He thinks it's adorable. 

Reaching over, he takes her hand in his, squeezes it. "When I thought something had happened to you..." he begins but he can't finish the thought, not when the memory of her lying on that office floor, the knowledge of what could so easily have happened to her, making his stomach churn. She bites her lip, moves her hand so that their fingers lace together and he stares at them for a long moment, remembering that feeling, knowing what it might mean but not quite able to fathom feeling it after so short a space of time with someone. He's been serious with other women; hell, he's been married, and he can't remember ever falling so hard so fast. 

"What is right is often forgotten by what is convenient." 

He blinks, because it's not how he was expecting her to break the silence. "What?" 

"Sorry." She blinks, screws up her face. "I always do that, blurt out random stuff... And there I go again." She sighs. "I took this class at MIT, Computer Age Philosophy. Not quite what I thought it was going to be, but the professor was amazing... anyway, that was one of the quotes he'd keep circling back to and since I've found out about what you and Oliver are up to, I haven't been able to get it out of my head... Kinda been applying it to my life... all our lives really." 

John frowns, not quite getting it. "You're not sure if you're doing this because it's right or because it's convenient?" 

Felicity smiles, shakes her head once, just the tiniest bit. "If you're talking about helping you and Oliver,  I know it's right. I also know it's definitely not convenient." She smirks, touches the bump on her head as if to illustrate her point. "If you're talking about this-" She raises their still joined hands. "Then it's probably not convenient, falling for someone when we're doing the work we do... but..."

Her voice trails off as her cheeks flush bright pink and she doesn't need to finish that sentence. "So," he says, just to be sure, as he takes her bottle from her hand and places it on the coffee table with his, "we're disproving your professor's statement?" With his hands free, he moves her easily so that she's straddling him, his hands resting on her hips. Her hands find his shoulders and she smiles a slow smile that tells him they're definitely thinking along the same lines. 

"I think so." Her eyes are dark and dilated, but he's not worried about a concussion. "But we should probably keep doing this, just to be sure." 

John grins. "I like the sound of that."


End file.
